Springfield Armory -- PMC
XD -- XTREME DUTY Skills Challenge -- THE STAGES
Scans of the match booklets are available on the main site (Shooting Sports Alliance, see below), but in brief, these are the descriptions of the five Day Match stages, and how I scored on each. Click on each Stage Name for one of the photos thereof and the links below for more photos.
Scored Rounds: 18 Maximum Rounds: 30
Scoring: Timed Fire + 10-second penalty per each plate left standing
Targets: Distances between shooting boxes and plates vary between 7 and 10 yards.
Start Position:
Shooter is seated with back touching the back of the chair, knees under table, and hands on X's. Gun is unloaded in briefcase with one magazine. One extra magazine will be on each table down range.
On Start Signal:
Retrieve firearm, load, and engage 6 plates. Proceed to Box B, reload as necessary, and engage 6 plates through barricade window (all shots must pass through window). Proceed to Box C, reload as necessary, and engage 6 plates thru barrel (all shots must pass thru barrel).
My personal assessment: I shot this stage first and was pretty nervous. I had some uncoordinated moments reloading and I moved from station to station pretty slowly. I would guess some shooters would have kneeled at the last station to shoot through the barrel, but I couldn't, so I just squatted as much as I could. I shot the stage cleanly with a final time of 66.53, but that ranked me 192nd of all shooters for this stage. (boo hoo)
Scored Rounds: 24 Maximum Rounds: 50 (4 strings)
Scoring: Timed Fire + 10-second penalty per each plate left standing
Targets: Plate rack is at 8 yards.
Start Position:
Gun is loaded; shooter is standing in box with firearm held at a 45-degree angle.
(Novice Class may start with a loaded gun in hand.)
On Start Signal:
Engage and hit 6 plates in each string as designated:
String 1: 6 rounds Freestyle; maximum 10 rounds
String 2: 6 rounds Strong Hand Only; maximum 10 rounds
String 3: 6 rounds Weak Hand Only; maximum 10 rounds
String 4: 3 rounds Freestyle; mandatory reload; 3 more rounds Freestyle; max 20 rounds
(Novice Class may elect to shoot each string freestyle.)
My personal assessment: I shot this stage second and was very slow. The first string took 13.55 seconds, although clean. Strong-hand-only took 19.92 seconds, but again clean. My weak hand is perfectly retarded, so it's hardly a surprise that that took like 29 seconds and I left one plate standing. The final string, even with the mandatory reload, took me about the same as the first string, at 14.70 seconds. My final total for this Stage was 77.17 (including the penalty seconds) and that ranked me 196th for this stage. Eeegads.
Scored Rounds: 20 Maximum Rounds: 40 (4 strings, 10 rounds each)
Scoring: Timed Fire + 10-second penalty per each plate left standing
Targets: Boxes are 2 yards apart. Large rectangular plates (18" x 24") are 6 yards from forward box and 14 feet from centerline. Small rectangular plates (12" x 16") are 8 yards from the forward box and 9 feet from centerline. Round STOP plate (12") is 13 yards from forward box.
Start Position:
Gun is loaded and held at a 45-degree angle.
On Start Signal:
Engage the large and small rectangular plates in any order. Then engage the round STOP plate last. Time and target hits stop when the STOP plate is hit; only hits counted prior to the STOP plate being hit are scored. Targets hit after the STOP plate are scored as misses. (Novice Class may start 2 yards closer to targets.)
My personal assessment: I shot this stage third, but Jim Scouten and the American Shooter video crew were there and I was preoccupied, irritated, and nervous. (It was fun meeting him, but they had the audacity to tape Marty, the shooter before me, and Erika, the shooter after me, and blatantly ignored me.) These targets were so large I should have done this stage much faster, but every shot counted and I ended up with times of 7.88, 7.18, 6.66, and 7.14, for a total of 28.86 which ranked me a pleasant 118th of all shooters for this stage.
Scored Rounds: 21 Maximum Rounds: 30
Scoring: Timed Fire + 10-second penalty per each plate left standing
Targets: Targets are of varying sizes and shapes. Left target array is 8 to 12 yards downrange. Center target array is 10 to 14 yards downrange. Right target array is 7 to 10 yards downrange.
Start Position:
Unloaded gun and three 10-round magazines are on the back shelf under the center window. Shooter is standing in Box A (several yards behind shooting box).
On Start Signal:
Step into Area B, load gun, and engage targets in any order thru the barred windows. Reload as necessary from magazines on shelf, and engage targets through subsequent windows. All shots must pass between the bars in the windows. A 25-second penalty will be assessed for each shot that goes thru any bar or wall props. (Novice Class may start with loaded gun in Area B with muzzle held at 45-degree angle downrange.)
My personal assessment: I skipped this stage and shot Stage 5 before it, so this was my last stage. It was also one of my favorites, even though it looked the most challenging! Maybe it helps if I get warmed up! I was spastic in reloading and judged badly as well. (I had leftover bullets for the last window because I'd shot so cleanly up to then, so I didn't reload before going to the window. But I ran out of bullets and had to go back to the center to get the third magazine, reload, return to the third window, and then finish. Experience and/or brains should help me avoid that in the future.) Nonetheless, I finished with no penalties and a time of 54.98 seconds, ranking me 144th on this stage.
Scored Rounds: 18 Maximum Rounds: 30
Scoring: Timed Fire + 10-second penalty per each plate left standing and a Foot Fault penalty of 10 seconds per shot fired if foot outside shooting box.
Targets: Targets are of varying shapes and sizes and between 8 to 10 yards downrange in a fanned arc.
Start Position:
Gun is loaded and held at 45-degree angle. Two extra magazines will be in windowed wall shelf.
On Start Signal:
From completely inside of shooter box, engage all targets from either side of barricade. Reload as necessary from shelf. The competitor's feet must remain inside of shooter box at all times. (Nothing different for Novice Class this time.)
My personal assessment: I shot this stage fourth, and it was one of my favorites, too. I really liked having different sized/shaped targets and shooting around the barricade. I was fastest woman shooter of the day (Saturday) on this stage and reloaded only slightly retardedly. My finishing time was 40.01 seconds with no penalties and that ranked me 123rd in all shooters on this stage after both days (Saturday and Sunday), so that was halfway respectable. In contrast, however, one of my instructors, Bill Heyder, ranked 4th overall in this stage with a final time of 17.53 seconds. Whew!
Also check out:
- Photos of the stages and some of us shooting them.
- Scoring Results for the folks I know, rankings overall and by each stage, and some Stats.
(The main website for this recent match is www.ssashooter.com, so check it out for other info.)